Dash Kitten

Cat Photo Confidence For Everyone, Including You

  • Home
    • GET IN TOUCH
    • PRIVACY POLICY
  • About Me
    • Awards
    • Dash Kitten Commemoration
      • The Pinnectomy. Harvey’s Ear Surgery Report
  • Learn Cat Photo Skills
    • Photo Blog
    • #52Assignments Collected Posts Page
  • Learn Cat Movie Skills
  • D.K. Crew’s Quarters
    • New Zealand Spotlight
    • The DK Mailing List
    • Product Reviews & Gift Guides
    • Our Special Pet Blogger Interviews
HOME » How Do You Rescue a Bad Cat Photo?

How Do You Rescue a Bad Cat Photo?

13/09/2019 by Marjorie Dawson 13 Comments

As many readers know I am a big fan of my local cat cafe. Neko Ngeru is a small business and deserves the support of cat-loving visitors in Petone, New Zealand.

I am always thrilled to share my photographs with the cafe. I am expanding my photographic skills and the cafe uses my best work.

Sometimes though, I have pictures that are sort of meh, maybe even borderline good that would be great for a future blog post. I know you might find yourself in a similar situation, you don’t want to let that photo go so I asked my self ‘how do you rescue a bad cat photo’?

  • We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

What makes a bad photo anyway

There are bad photos that can be rescued and then there are the ‘others’. The ones you know, deep down, just did not work and that you need to delete.

What is the difference is between a potential winner and an ‘Ugh, that’s terrible’?

  • A lack of focus can’t be fixed – too blurry.
  • and extreme exposure – too light and too dark. The exception is if you take pictures using RAW. Then you have more options.

As you learn more about your camera settings for cat photography you will become better at achieving sharp focus and allowing your camera to take over some of the hard work by using a mode like ‘close-up’ or ‘sport’.

What Can I do to Improve a Bad Picture?

You can remove red eye

There are times when I get ‘pet eye’ or red eye as it appears in humans. That zombie like stare that looks terrible and totally creeps people out.

You can remove this by using one of the many software packages on the market. Photoshop Elements (PSE), GIMP, and Affinity are packages I have successfully used. None of the software packages is hard to use and YouTube has friendly tutorials to help you fix a pet’s glowing eyes.

Full sized cat picture with fault
Pan – the basic image with overexposed corner

Crop to Remove Part of Your Image

This is one of the best cat photography ideas and it’s something I often forget about!

If there is a lot of empty space, or the picture element is too far over to one side, you can crop. This is especially useful if your photography will be shown in square format on Instagram.

You can use a ‘Mask’ in Affinity or PSE

This image of Pan from the cat cafe has a lot going for it. Clear fur, calm expression and nicely defined fur. But, there is an over-bright corner to the image, sunshine, which is very distracting. This is the sample I use for my makevers.

One option will be to use a mask that will dim the over bright corner of the image. I am currently investigating masks for a future post. They have the potential beyond this photo rescue blog post and I am still learning how they work!

Image masking is a process of graphics software like Photoshop and Affinity to hide some portions of an image and to reveal others. It is a non-destructive process of image editing. Most of the time it enables you to adjust and tweak the mask later if necessary.

Image Masking

Disguise a Photo Fail with a Filter

I am a big fan of filters. Partly because you can have a lot of fun and partly because they can transform a failure into a triumph.

I subscribe to Photo Lab (a modest annual fee) but there are plenty of free, or trial versions. I discovered that there are several where you can edit online, then save and share.

Pan with Heart Bokeh Filter (Photo Lab)
Pan with’ Heart Bokeh Frame Filter’ from Photo Lab
  • PiZap Online editing or an app for iPhone or Android
  • Edit online with UpperPix new kid on the block and versatile.
  • Lunapic popular with bloggers and an effective filter tool
  • Photoshop Elements – a little sister program that avoids Photoshops monthly subscription.
  • Affinity Photo – for Mac and most importantly for iPad

These two photographs disguise the error by drawing attention elsewhere.

The Photo Lab Heart Bokeh filter (above) has a touch of romantic sweetness to it while the Sketch filter below has a more dramatic effect. The filter has the added bonus of adding definition to the tones of fur colour.

Both filters highlight Pan’s beautiful eyes and draw your attention to them, with or without colour. The mistake in the corner no longer exists and don’t forget you can also crop your image then add a filter as well.

Make an impact on Instagram with filters!

'Sketch' Filter of Pan the Black Cat - Photo Lab Cat Photography HD
‘Sketch’ Filter of Pan the Black Cat – Photo Lab

Add Text or a Watermark

My final cat photography idea to disguise a photo mistake is to put something relevant on top of the area you want to hide.

You have two quick to use options,

  • Use a block of colour then add text or your watermark,
  • or, boldly splash your watermark across to cover a mistake.
Cat image with block of text disguising a mistake

You Can Rescue a Bad Photo

You just need to analyse which quick and simple method will work best so you can show off your image on social media, or add to a blog post.

Don’t give up without trying a few of these options. I bet you have just the picture to experiment with somewhere in your photo library.

Join Dash Kitten on Social Media
20
Visit Us
Follow Me
Vimeo
fb-share-icon
Share9
Pin
Tweet
Share
Share

Filed Under: Camera Skills

Meet Marjorie, Writer and Photographer

Portrait by a window with teddy bears Taken with a smartphone.Marjorie is a cat lover, photographer and smartphone moviemaker who loves sharing her knowledge with learners.

Marjorie is a Cat Writers’ Association Professional member, CWA Muse® Medallion and Certificate Winner, and winner of the CWA Kuykendall Image Award for her photography.

 

Comments

  1. Jana Rade says

    24/09/2019 at 12:19 pm

    Cropping and/or effects can save most photos for sure.

    Reply
  2. Robin says

    24/09/2019 at 11:02 am

    I love the filters that you chose for Pan! He is such a handsome mancat. The sketch filter really focuses in on those gorgeous eyes. Great ideas!

    Reply
  3. Sweet Purrfections says

    24/09/2019 at 7:38 am

    Thank you for the insight. I always need to use some type of filter or editing program for the photos I take indoors because I have very little natural light.

    Reply
  4. Rebecca Sanchez says

    24/09/2019 at 3:51 am

    These are great tips for saving any photo – love the info and actually plan to use it a little bit later this week!

    Reply
  5. Emilia says

    24/09/2019 at 12:29 am

    That sketch filter is really cool. I always forget editing photos is a thing. I like to point shoot and post. But since Plush is a faceless furball without lighting adjust I’m learning. Definitely going to try that sketch filter and turn him into a work of art.

    Reply
  6. Tenacious Little Terrier says

    23/09/2019 at 10:18 pm

    I don’t use filters very often but maybe I should start! I try to take lots of photos so I have a variety to choose from.

    Reply
  7. Beth says

    23/09/2019 at 12:49 pm

    Pan is so handsome that I didn’t even notice the overexposed corner at first. I love all of your rescued photos!

    Reply
  8. Sandy Kubillus says

    23/09/2019 at 5:38 am

    Thanks for the great tips. I often crop photos and have rarely used red-eye reduction or sometimes use a filter to get things brighter, but these were just in Microsoft or Adobe photoshop. I’ll have to try some of your other tips.

    Reply
  9. Kamira G says

    22/09/2019 at 6:56 am

    These little fixes are great for a novice like myself. I’m still a work in progress with photos. Sometimes lighting is perfect but most times it’s awfully dark. My favorite tip you mentioned was using IG filters to fix mistakes. Very clever! Thanks.

    Reply
  10. Ruth Epstein says

    21/09/2019 at 4:24 pm

    I use Pizap to try salvage some of my lousy photos but most of the time I delete them but have come to the conclusion and learning from you I have a lousy camera LOL and need to get a new one one of these days.

    Reply
  11. mommakatandherbearcat says

    14/09/2019 at 9:41 pm

    We all have these! Happy Gotcha Day to Harvey!

    Reply
  12. Memories of Eric and Flynn says

    14/09/2019 at 7:26 am

    Thanks for the tips. It is always good to be able to save a not quite good enough photo. I like that sketch filter.

    Reply
  13. Brian Frum says

    14/09/2019 at 2:04 am

    That’s some great info and will really help save some of those photos we really love! Thanks for joining the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Join Our Mailing List!

Discover, Learn, Share, Teach.

Dash Kitten Contact Us Graphic for the Blog

Kuykendall Image Award Winner 2020

Cat Writers’ Association
Link to the About Me page introducing Marjorie, Author of the blog at Dash Kitten

CWA Muse® Medallion Winner

Graphic for an Award winner to display on their web site.

Associate Disclaimer

Dash Kitten is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking Amazon.com

RIP Friend Nerissa the Cat

A memorial tribute picture and link to our fellow adventurer

Please follow & like us :)

20
Visit Us
Follow Me
Vimeo
fb-share-icon

Humarian for Pets and People

Humarian Probiotics Promotional graphic for my favourite probiotics

Quote DASHKITTEN for 20% OFF your first order.

Triple Finalist – Nose to Nose Awards 2018

Nose to Nose Awards 2018

Blog Collaboration Award

Special Certificate 2015
Dash Kitten Newsletter Link and Logo including a cute picture of Miranda the cat
Dash Kitten Contact Us Graphic for the Blog

Dash Kitten Social Media

20
Visit Us
Follow Me
Vimeo
fb-share-icon
Dash Kitten Newsletter Logo

NEWS FROM DASH KITTEN

  • Cat Photography Ideas Go Macro
  • New Cafe Kittens – Pooka the Tuxedo
  • The Great Outdoors #52Assignments No. 7
  • Creative Photo Ideas For Lockdown Cat Lovers
  • Summer Photo Portrait in the Garden
A link to my About Met page

Copyright Notice for Dash Kitten ©

All images and text used on this site, from its creation to date are copyrighted ©  to Marjorie Dawson, Whskr and Dash Kitten.com unless otherwise noted.  Content cannot be used without my specific written permission. Please let me know via the Get In Touch page if you are interested in using images or stories from DashKitten.com

Copyright © 2021 · Enterprise Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

40 SHARE